The MPEG standards define lossy type compression schemes that are adapted to handle a variety of audio/video formats. For example, MPEG-2 (i.e., Version 2) supports standard television signal, HDTV signals, and five-channel surround sound, providing a broadcast-quality image at 720×480 pixel resolution for use in DVD movies. MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 employ frame-based coding standards. In contrast, MPEG4, which is the latest video coding standard, supports object-based compression/decompression and incorporates natural video and synthetic graphics objects. It is capable of relatively high compression ratios and is becoming a powerful tool for a wide range of applications, including Internet browsing, set-top boxes, video games, video conferencing, and wireless networks. In contrast to the frame-based coding standards to which both MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 are limited, this new standard is also capable of handling arbitrary-shaped objects. To facilitate the compression of arbitrary-shaped video objects, several new coding schemes have been added to those of the previous video coding standards. However, these new coding schemes are computationally expensive and relatively difficult to implement in hardware due to their complexity. Any hardware solution adopted to support the new coding schemes must also be able to support other features used in the MPEG standard. Accordingly, it would be preferable to develop a software solution that can more readily be implemented without significant processing overhead. Such a programmable solution would be much better than a hardware solution because of its inherent flexibility, and the relatively short time required to complete its development.